Children experience street infrastructure uniquely. However, how we design streets doesn’t always consider children’s needs. This blog spotlights two successful street interventions in Fortaleza, Brazil and Santiago, Chile, which made streets more safe, active and sociable, benefitting children and adults. The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) Streets for Kids team is a group of urban Read more →
Public Space
Waste is a growing global problem which affects the health and well-being of people and the planet. Urban children in low-and middle-income countries, particularly the poorest, are among the most vulnerable to the health and environmental risks caused by poor waste management in cities. In this blog, to inspire our readers to take action, we Read more →
The Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) collaborates with local community groups to transform underutilized risk-prone spaces in Kibera into a resilient and productive network of public spaces. This network of public spaces – comprising toilets, multipurpose halls, micro-enterprises, laundry facilities, play spaces, vegetable gardens, and schools – builds physical, social and economic resilience in informal communities Read more →
Child-centric urban planning is about more than just building playgrounds. Here, Kunal Kumar, Rushda Majeed and Sree Kumar Kumaraswamy outline four ways to make neighbourhoods better for very young children, from creating dedicated spaces for play to improving early childhood care centres. The 10 winning cities of the Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge were announced by the Read more →
What are Open Streets? Why are they important for children, vulnerable groups and cities? What are the key ingredients that make Open Streets successful in cities? On 19 April 2022, Gil Peñalosa hosted an online webinar called Open Streets/CiclovĂas: Meeting as Equals – Public Health Benefits where he and Dr. Olga L. Sarmiento addressed some Read more →
My last blog made the case for child-friendly urban planning as a catalyst for healthier, more sustainable cities. It set out a two-dimensional framework highlighting the role of mobility on the one hand, and a wide choice of things to do (crucially including places to play) on the other. This blog looks in more detail Read more →
We speak to Gil Penalosa, founder and chair of 8 80 Cities. After many years running the organisation as Executive Director, he now serves as Chair of the Board of Directors. We speak to him about the impact city parks can have on the urban environment as part of our Ask an Expert series. Let’s Read more →
ITDP’s new report, 15-Minute-Neighbourhoods: Access and Babies, Toddlers and Their Caregivers, has been released, and this webinar discussed how this can contribute to urban wellbeing. The conversation was moderated by Ankita Chakra, Knowledge for Policy Director at the Bernard van Leer Foundation. The panelists included Aimee Gaulthier, Chief Knowledge Officer at ITDP, Iwona Alfred, Program Read more →
What if everything we did in our cities had to work for both an eight-year-old, and an eighty-year-old? That’s the premise behind Gil Penalosa’s work, founder and chair of 8 80 Cities, who has worked in many cities worldwide as an urban planner. Every week he invites guests to speak about cities, parks and green Read more →
We often look at what’s wrong in slums and informal settlements. Here, I draw attention instead to one of their assets: the common space outside people’s homes. I explore its importance for children’s play and development, while unpacking the fluidity and changing nature of these spaces. And as increasing competition for their use leaves less Read more →